> (Could it be that meta-positioning, i.e., obsessive worry about what we> ought to be doing, as opposed to worry about what we're doing, is a> symptom of our malaise?)

Actually, this too is a worthy topic of anthropological debate, no? The idea
of worry and how it differs between cultures, and how it effects different
cultures differently?

I was thinking -- as I wrote that paragraph, in fact <g> -- that this would be
a fine topic for a study in contrasts, perhaps between Modern Western culture
and Traditional Native culture. (I'm sure such studies have been done, too,
but if we simply refer to them, we have no topic for discussion. <g>)

For instance -- who worries less? The Native American who is fairly
certain, because of his or her ties to tradition, the past, nature, and the
spiritual cosmos, of his or her place in things; while the Western American
lives more for the moment (or perhaps for the short future, but almost never
for the past), engages in endless inquiries into existence, and feels more
spiritually and personally isolated from nature and humanity?

Or the Western American who is secure in his or her necessities (e.g. food,
clothing, homes), confident of his or her ability to achieve "progress," and
able to get in instant contact with any other person anywhere else in the
world; while the Native American was more "at the mercy" of nature, did not
generally have "better" social position to strive for, and could only speak
with those with whom he or she was face to face?

Thoughts anyone?

Flames everyone? <g>

Nick---

--
Nick Corduan "...there is as much dignity in tilling
at a field as in writing a poem."
(nickc@iquest.net) --Booker T. Washington